Park visitors occasionally ask rangers, "What do you find to do during the off-season?" There's rarely a shortage of work any time of the year, and a recent series of incidents at Shenandoah National Park offers a reminder that the term "off-season" is often a misnomer.
People who find themselves lost in the boonies, whether it's forest, field, desert or other terrain, frequently make the same mistake. If you find yourself unsure which route leads back to civilization, a recent incident at the Buffalo National River offers a clue about your most important task.
A deer hunter who survived four days in the snake- and alligator-infested sloughs of Big Cypress National Preserve by drinking swamp water and eating a catfish was found in relatively good condition Friday, officials said.
Searchers headed out for a third day Thursday morning to look for a 30-year-old hunter who walked away from his camp Monday in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.
This time the signal from SPOT really was sent seeking aid with a medical emergency, alerting Grand Canyon National Park rangers to a man with a fractured leg deep in the canyon.
Grand Canyon National Park rangers on Tuesday were trying to determine the cause of death of an Arizona man whose body was found on the Bright Angel Trail.
Searchers planned to expand their efforts Friday to find a 73-year-old hiker who set out on a day hike to the summit of Mount Whitney in Sequoia National Park.
Ground and air teams were searching Thursday for a missing 73-year-old hiker who failed to return from a day hike to the summit of Mount Whitney in Sequoia National Park.
Hikers in two widely separated NPS areas were injured in falls during the past week. The incidents led to challenging rescues, but they could have been a lot worse. In both cases, the men escaped what would likely have been a catastrophic plunge by the narrowest of margins.
A hiker who died at Channel Islands National Park from a presumed case of heat stroke sadly demonstrates not only the need to be prepared when you head out into a park, but also the wisdom of heeding advice from rangers.
A popular TV show has confirmed that many adults are not smarter than a 5th grader, but surely humans are smarter than ground squirrels. The following tale from Glacier National Park offers a good test of that hypothesis.
Frivolous calls to 911 centers are a growing problem all across the country, but when the call comes from a remote location in Grand Canyon National Park, both the expense and risks of an emergency response increase dramatically. A group of hikers recently activated their SPOT device not once, not twice, but three times on the same trip.
An effort to siphon gasoline between two containers led to an explosion that injured six -- including two with burns severe enough that they were flown to a Las Vegas burn treatment center -- and destroyed a houseboat at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
An aerial search was under way Thursday across the northern half of Denali National Park and Preserve where a single-engine plane with a noted wolf biologist went missing.
If you've spent anytime around cliffs, you probably can appreciate that climbing up is a lot easier than climbing back down. Well, for three teens and their mother at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, getting down required quick assistance from park rangers who were able to rappel down and safely get the four back on firm ground.
Searchers looking for three missing backpackers in Kings Canyon National Park spotted a trio of men matching the missing hikers' description perched on a ledge above Roaring River Falls around noon Thursday. Due to their location, rangers were working on a technical rescue to get the three off the ledge.
Bushwhacking across landscapes can be dangerous, particularly if the footing is steep and covered with talus -- areas of loose rock. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a Missouri man died when he slipped while crossing a talus slope and fell 70 feet into a shallow arm of Lake Powell.
SPOT units are compact communication devices that can be used to summon help in event of an emergency in remote areas. SPOT can be a life-saving tool, but false alarms by inept users can also be a problem. Recent incidents in two parks illustrate the potential and the pitfalls of modern technology.
A solitary hiker fell to his death from Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, officials reported Friday. Park officials were trying to determine whether the victim was a Colorado man who had failed to return from his trek up the 14,259-foot peak.
The wide variety of duties performed by park rangers is part of the job's appeal, but some tasks are clearly less desirable than others. Responding to a hazardous materials spill falls into the "negative" category, but in rural America, the definition of "haz mat" can include some pretty bizarre substances.
Eagle 2 is a U. S. Park Police helicopter used in the Washington, D.C. area and it's participated in some dramatic missions. Few, however, have involved a more unusual situation than a recent rescue at Great Falls Park—and it all started with a romantic miscue.
A mother and son were injured in a parasailing accident at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The incident occurred on Lake Power, near the mouth of the San Juan River, and resulted in severe head injuries to the woman.
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